It is Important to be Able to Read the River

Given the fact that about 10% of the river holds about 90% of the fish, it is important to be able to “read" the river, - to find the natural favourite spots of the fish. “Classical” fishing spots for Czech nymphs are along rapids where the river goes from shallow to deep, but also recesses in shallow stretches of the river can be excellent. The Grayling is quite gregarious, so if you have caught one you will often get more at the same spot. More specifically, you can find ideal spots in relatively fast flowing water with clearly defined currents where the depth varies between half a metre down to one and a half metres. In such stretches the fish will easily find plenty of food. The surface should not be calm. A turbulent surface makes it more difficult for the fish to discover the fisher. Given the right conditions, you can actually come surprisingly close to the fish without scaring it off. For instance, last autumn I caught a one-kilo grayling in the Rena River in Eastern Norway - just one metre from where I was standing. Many people do get surprised about how close you can get to really big fish when using this technique.

I have most experience with fishing grayling from August to October. During this season it’s not unusual to experience good dry-fly fishing when conditions are right. But this isn’t always the case, and quite a few fly fishers have experienced that fishing has been bad due to high water level, cold water or too much wind. However, the Czech technique will function irrespective of the various conditions, and it can yield stunning catches when all other techniques fail. Even “hardy” dry-fly fishers should enjoy this kind of fishing as a good alternative when conditions aren’t right for dry flies.